Folding furniture



Jan. 23, 1923.

T. B. DRAPER. FOLDING FURNITURE. FILED SEPT. 7. 1920.

4 SHEETSSHEET I m m. m .3

Jan. 23, 1923. 1,443,314

T. B. DRAPER. FOLDING FURNITURE. Fl LED SEPT. 7, I 920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Jan. 23, 1923.

T. B; DRAPER. FOLDING FURNITURE. Fl LED SEPT.

4 SHEETS'SHEET 3 SIM inflict attocm p Patented Jan. 23, 1923.

UNITED STATES THOMAS B. DRAPER, or TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA,

FOLDING FURNITURE.

Application filed September 7, 1920. Serial No. 408,657.

ture andmore particularly to a settee, couch,

sofa, or lounge that may be converted into a full. width doublebed having a spring and mattress all ready for. bed clothes.

My invention aims to provide a piece of furniture which is susceptible to any desired exterior finish, for instance, along the lines of mission furniture, and my invention possesses the following characteristics:

First, the lounge, as it will be hereinafter termed, has its seat andback cushions arranged so as to be distended to form a bed structure havinga top spring with a novel mattress thereon, and the arrangement of the spring and mattress is such that both of these articlesare folded and concealed with in the lounge structure, which also affords sufiicient space for bed clothes.

Second, the lounge has armrest supports and arm rests .with the arm rest supports arranged to afford intermediate bed feet and the arm rests disposed to afford end bed feet, so that the bed structure will be safely supported and present a neat and attractive further characterized by an automatic lock-f ing device whichprevents displacement or any tendency of. folded parts to open, and another locking device prevents a taut bed spring from raising distended parts of the bed structure. f a v The above are a few of the main features of my. invention and others will appear as the nature of my inventionis better understood. 1 i i l f Fig. 2 is a plan of the-same partly away; i

Reference will now be had to the draw ings, where1n- Figure l is a longitudinal sectionalview of a piece of furniture unfoldedor distended to provide a bed structure, and in dot and dash lines" portions of the structure are shownin shifted'position; A I

broken 3 is a vertical cross sectional view. of the lounge showing the folded bedspring PATENT orries.

and mattress therein by dot and dash lines;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the lounge taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 8 and partly broken away;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of a portion of the lounge tended, and a i Fig. 6 is an end view of the lounge partly broken away'and partly in section.

The lounge comprises a back frame having end legs-1 connected by a top rail 2 and a bottom rail 3 and said rails are conthe end legs 1 are side frames 5 having front end legs 6 connected by a. front, rail 7 and this rail is connected to the bottom rail 3 by a plurality of slats'B, the slats 8 and 4: cooperating with the side framesv 5 in forming somewhat of an oblong box structure or housing in which may be housed a flexible or foldable bed spring 9, a mattress '10, and such bed clothes, pillows, etc, that may be used on abed structure.

v The inner sides of the legs 6, adjacent the upperends thereof, areprovided with pintles or pivot members 11 for seat end frames 12 and these'seat end frames and the legs 6 may have suitable bearings or wear plates 13 for the pivot members' ll. The seat end frames 12 are connected by longitudinal seat rails 14 and 15 supporting, a conventional form ofspring seat cushion 16. The seat end frames 12 are also provided with arm rest supports .17 having dowel pins 18 and said arm rest supports constitute intermediate bed feet whenthe seat cushion is unfolded or distended to form the intermediate portion of a bed structure. Theend frames 12 haveledges 12 to rest on the upper edge of the front rail 7 and thus release thepintles 11 of anygreat weight when the cushion 16 isin use as a lounge.

Connected to the seat end frames 12, ad-

partly unfolded or dis tion of a bed structure.

jacent the ledges 12 are counterbalancing devices 19 including links'19 and coiledretractile springs, and said counterbalancing devices are connected to the end legsl ofthe lounge back frame,,at. the innensidesthereof, so that said devices will extend'along the inner sides of the frames 5, as best: shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The links 19 of the counterbalancing devices extend: across the seat rail 15 and bear thereon when the seat cushioniis unfolded or distended-and said devices constantly aim to raise'the seat portion from an unfolded position to a folded .position, :and it is-onlynecessary'to slightlyraise the unfolded seat cushion, assho-wn in Fig. 1, inorder to have the devices 19 co-operate in assisting further movement of the seat cushion. It is obviousthat these devices will I also cooperate in preventing a sudden and jarring opening movement of the seat cushion, as the same is unfolded and placed in an active position as the intermediate por- To prevent the counterbalancingdevices from raising the distended seat cushion, locking devices 20 connect the seat end frames 12 to the side frames 5, each locking device comprising toggle or rule joint links which, when in alignment. as shown in Fig. 1, prevent the seat end frames 12- from raising under the influence of the counterbalancing devices 19. The locking devices maybe manually broken or shifted upwardly, as indicated by dot and dash lines in Fig. 1", to. permit of the counterbalancingdevices 19 assisting in folding or closing theseat cushion, and where said locking devices are connected to the end frames 12 there are side lugs 20 which impinge against the links 19? andforcibly lower. said links into parellelism with the inner wall of the front rail- 7, as best shown in 3. This places the links 19 in such a position that considerable leverage is obtained for the springs when assisting in raising the seat cushion as said'springs pull against the side lugs 20 which are in a plane below the pintles and-must ride against the links 19 until'the seat cushion is well raised from the lounge frame, (see Fig. 5').

Connected to the seat'end frames 12' by suitable hinges 21 or other pivotal means are back end frames 22 connected by rails 23 and 24 supporting a back cushion 25 and on the rail 24 is an angle bar 26 and a finishing rail or stop 27. The angle bar 26 cooperates with a tiltable angle bar 28 connect ing the endlegs 1 of the back frame in supporting the bedspring 9- and when the seat and back cushionsiare in unfolded ordistendedposition, as shown in Fig. 1, the bed spring 9.is maintainedtaut and supports the mattress 10 in a manner as will'bedisclosed acompanionapplication, filed under even 22 are side supports 29 for arm rests 30 and these arm rests serve as endibed feet in connection with the bed structure. Thelower or. rear faces of the arm rests 30 are grooved or. provided with sockets 31 to receive the dowel pins 18 of the arm rest supports 17 whenithebed structure is folded to provide a lounge. When so folding the bed structurethefinishing rail or stop 27 abuts the top rail 2 of the back frame to limit the closing movement of the bedstructure,,and by reference to Fig. 3, it will'be observed that the rail'27' protrudes above the rail 2 and can beeasily gripped and" pulled? forwardly when distendingor-"unf'olding' the lounge.

On the outer sidesof the ba'ck endfram'e's 22, adjacent the side supports 29 are angle keepers 32" adapted to engageunder angle latches-33 onthe inner sides of'the end legs 1, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 6. The keepers 82 snap under the latches 33 and prevent any raising'movement of the seat andv back cushions until manuallyma'nipulated, at whichtime the forward movement of the back cushion removes the angle keepers 32 from under the angle latches33; and then the back cushion can be elevated;

Thusfar I have consideredthe mechanical construction of the lounge and now-considering the operation of converting-"the lounge into a bedstructure and viceversa, it is only necessaryto grip the finishing" rail 27 and pull the same forwardly when the back and se'at cushions will be bodily raised, turning at the pintles 11, as shown in Fig. 5. As the seat cushion isswung over the pintles the back cushion opens forwardly, as shown in Fig. 1, and can be lowereduntil the armrests engage the floorand serve-as end bed feet. As pointed out in the beginning the counterbalancing devices 19 are brought into action to prevent a sudden lowering movement of the seat and back cushions. It is now necessary that theloc king links'20 be-nian-uall' iy straightened out and the bed structure is ready to be made up if the bed clothes are not attached-to'the mattress 10. By reference'to Fig. 1 it will be observed that the bed spring'9 is-supported free of the end frames 12 and 22 andso'me distance above the' side frames 5. consequently the bed spring willpossessthe same degree of resiliency as an ordinary bed p To foldthe bed'structurethe back cushion is raised after the locking links 20 are broken upwardly and the breaking'of these locking links permits of the counterbalancing devices- 19 assisting: in raising the seat cushion so that as the cushions arje moved towards the'back frame the singularly disally engage the supports 17 I and the finishing rail 27 engage the top rail 2. It is during this folding movement of the seat and back cushions that the spring Sand the mattress fold into the box like structure afforded by the back frame and thespring 9 will cause the angle rail 28 to tilt, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to preventbuckling of said spring. a

Considering the lounge, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, it is to be noted that the pintles 1'1 cooperate with the finishing rail 27 in supporting the seat and back cushions relative to the lounge frame and due to the relation of the end frames 12and 22 there can be no breaking down of these cushions due to any reasonable weight'on the same.

Throughout the construction of the piece of furniture I may use angle brackets or filler blocks, for instance,on the arm rest supports 17 to assistin supporting the arm rests 30, and at such other places where parts may be braced or made ornamental. It is practically impossible to detect that the lounge may be converted into a bed, and

the manner in which the piece of furniture is constructed materially reduces theweightof the same compared with folding furniture.

. The use ofmetal is reduced to a minimum ;termediate bed feet, and a back cushion con-V nected to said seat cushion and having arm rests serving as end bed feet. a

' 2. In foldable furniture, a lounge frame, a seat cushion, a back'cushion, and means carried by both of said cushions adapted to cooperate in providing arms for said lounge frame, said frame and cushions being articulated to be distended to form a bed structure devoidof any side upright or arms lated cushions in said frame supported at I the forward edge of said frame and at the upper edge thereof, arm rests carried by one of said cushions, and arm rest supports carried by the other of said cushions for the arm rests of the first mentioned cushion.

l. A lounge adapted to be converted into bed, comprising a frame, a seat cushion pivoted in said. frame and having arm rest sup-ports, a back cushion hinged to said seat frame and having arm rests to engage the rest supports of said seat cushion and provide side arms forthe lounge. 1

5. A lounge adapted to be converted into a bed having a head, intermediate and fo'ot portions, and side arms for the lounge, portions. of said side arms being carried by the intermediate and foot bed portions to assist in holding said portions for the bed. i

6. In a piece of folding furniture which has a back frame and a seat cushion pivotally connected thereto and adapted to be raised and inverted, a locking. device connecting said seat cushion and back frame, side lugs forming part of said lockingdevice and in a plane below the pivots of said seat cushion when said seat cushion, is in said backframe, and counter balance devices 1 for said. seat cushion adapted to engage said side lugs and assist in raising said seat cushion to be inverted.

7. In a piece of folding furniture which has a back frame and a cushion pivotally .connected'thereto and adapted to be raised and inverted, lugs carried by said cushion normally below the plane of the pivots of said cushion and a counter balance device connecting said back frame and cushion and adapted to engage said lugs and assist in raising said cushion.

In testimony whereof I afiix my slgnature in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS B. DRAPER. 

